Sonically

Sonically

everything's muddy

soured yet longed for

Perhaps

it's these crazy gaps

seeping up all the gore

WWW Wednesday #01 | October 2022

WWW Wednesday #01 | October 2022

WWW Wednesday was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and brought back by Sam of Taking on a World of Words. WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme which is a fun way to update your readers on your current reads. It is to answer three W questions. The Three Ws are… * What are you currently reading? * What did you recently finish reading? * What do you think you’ll read next? Hi, kindred…

View On WordPress

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities in Netflix is a delight. Well, at least for a horror enthusiast like me. It's a show where binge watching is not an ideal thing to do. Each episode (that I watched so far) has this heavy atmosphere which is seemingly discernible from the repulsive atmosphere that I observed from the Black Mirror episodes I've seen. And understandably so, since Black Mirror operated more with scifi elements' effects on humans while Cabinet of Curiosities dig within one of the primitive instincts of humans — fear paired with human curiosity.

I watched while both my brain and stomach are wrenching with the familiar feeling of ignorance of the terrifying slowly peeling away with every scene. It's almost like I am watching horror for the first time as a little child.

I tried watching 4 episodes in one day but I couldn't, I was only able to watch 2 episodes. I am at episode 5 now. It's not filled with neither spookfest nor jumpscares, but it still gives you that subtle tingling under your skin, minimal tugging at your guts, and sigh of relief that the episode is over and that it wasn't real.

people often say knowledge always brings responsibility so just be responsible and work for your own self-awareness

“Not everyone who is single is lonely; not everyone who is taken is in love.”

— Unknown

Dec. 13th: 12-Days Before Christmas (2022 Story Relay Marathon)

Hi, kindred souls! This is the very first story relay of a 12-day story relay marathon I endorsed to my friend, ShiaraS (Discord: Shiara#5382) , that we will be doing from Dec. 13th to Dec. 24th—AKA 12 days before Christmas!

Since this is a marathon of sorts, we decided to lay some ground rules so we can "finish" each relay for each day. It would start with me drawing a prompt every morning from a plastic container that will serves as our bowl for this occasion. These prompts were collected by us from different sources (I will do my absolute best to give appropriate credit for the original creators/source material).

The story relay would then consist of 5 turns for both of us with a max. of 10-15 sentences each turn. After these, the story relay for that day would be considered "finished". THERE WILL BE NO EDITING DONE FOR ALL STORY RELAYS.

These rules were placed since ShiaraS' exams were also scheduled during the set week.

HERE'S THE WRITING PROMPT FOR TODAY'S STORY RELAY:

You just finished the ritual to summon a demon. However, your sacrifice was insufficient. Instead, they sent you their intern. (via @writing-prompt-s as submitted by @gearboxwritesbooks)

START OF STORY RELAY:

I furiously flipped through the grimoire trying to find out what I did wrong and how I could fix things. Because this is not what I wanted. I wanted to make a deal with a real demon, not his intern! This scrawny, over-gelled teenager in a beat up leather jacket who was trying very hard to look intimidating and failing by a mile. "What happened?!" I screamed at her, "What did I do wrong? How come I get you?" The intern rolled her eyes and walked to the edge of the pentagram on the floor. She swiped her finger on the line and put it in her mouth. She grimaced and spit it out. "Did you even check the blood you used? You think a demon will come for some cheap rat blood?" "Rat blood?!!"

"You know those cute fluffy dark crawling mammals with long thin tails and pointy noses and severe overbites? The ones that like to munch on substandard rotten earthly substances?" she explained as she flicks her porcelain pointed tail. I stared at her disgusted with how smooth and pale her tail and nails are. Definitely not a demon. "Those are rats," she finished with a flat dried-lipped smile. "I didn't use a rat blood. It's supposed to be a gallon of black stallion's blood." "Oops, I guess..." The intern shrugged and raised her brows. "How do I return you back? I want a REAL demon." I replied as I looked for an instructions— —"Hmmm... do you have a book about a botched summoning ritual?" "It's evocation for high ranking celestial entities. Summoning is only for spirits and lower class..." She grabbed the book I am scanning and smirked, "You're below an amateur then for summoning a demon intern."

I blushed a furious red. "Fine! I got the wrong book and the wrong blood but I'm still making a deal." She stared at me and the ... She laughed. The lights flickered. The dogs in the neighborhood started howling. "For an amateur who knows absolutely nothing about rituals and spells, you're pretty funny. So, for that, I will do you a favor by not killing you where you stand. Which, by the way, is the usual consequence for botched rituals." I know I should take the win and let the infuriating intern climb back down to hell. I shouldn't push my luck against her. ... ... But I'm desperate. One way or the other, I need to get something out of this whole mess. I've done too much to give up now. "If I can't make a deal with a real demon, can I make a deal with you? I'll do anything."

"You'll... do ... anything...you say," she folded her arms and her tail twirled glistening under the room light. "Y-yes." "You're that desperate huh," she turned her back and looked down at the pentagram on the floor. I bit my lip. I'll take it since I AM desperate. "So what can you d—" she cocked her head to the side still not facing me but her tail stopped moving and pointed at me "—I mean, what do you want in return" "Depends."

"De-depends on what?" "On what you want and how badly you want it." She smirked and for the first time that whole afternoon, I questioned whether what I wanted is worth whatever this creature from hell asks of me. My hand begins to shake and I make up my mind. "I... I'm a writer. I have good stories and I know I'm better than half the published authors out there but no one wants to publish me." "And let me guess, you want to be famous." "I want to be published. I want my words to reach millions of readers. I want my life to mean something." She stepped closer to me. As close as she can be while still being in the pentagram. Her forked tail rose and swept the braid off my shoulder. "That's easy enough. I don't even need to be a high level demon for that."

"H-How?" "First things first. You need to gather a handful of stuff before I explain it to you.", a dried pig's ear appeared in front of my face. I grabbed at it and could see scribbled list on it. I gathered my bag and keys and went for the door. "When you come back, I will give you my asking price for our deal." I nodded and closed the door locking it. I checked the list once again. It's a very short list, and a bizarre one. .... 10 gallons of blood from several sleeping beauties 2 Fountain pens from a dead holy servant 5 pounds of powdered gold fish scales .... I may be "below amateur" in demon casting but I am a veteran for scouting for what I need.

Whenever anyone read my work, I always felt a anxious over their opinion, that feeling multiplied ten times when I came back to my little apartment a couple of hours later and discovered the intern lying on her back while one of my manuscripts floated above her head. "That's my manuscript!" "Relax, I'm just reading it. If I'm going to make this world famous, I should at least know if I'll be torturing the rest of humanity with it. It's not bad, the bare bones of a good story are here but some of your metaphors fall a little flat." I bit my tongue, not wanting to say anything to offend the mercurial little demon. "I'll speak about it to whatever editor you get for me. I got everything on your list." She jumped to her feet, my manuscript following her movements. "Excellent. Now, in exchange for turning your little book into a best seller, you will work for me for 6 years. You will get me desperate souls willing to make a deal. One soul for each week your book is number one on the best sellers list." I paled. This wasn't what I wanted. I thought I would have to sell my soul, not drag others to hell with me.

"Are interns allowed to do that? How am I to know you're not using me to bypass any demonic rules for promotion?" I don't know what came to me but I feel almost confident to question this subrace of an evil entity. "For your information, despite the disastrous ritual you just did only demon interns who have been serving the longest and received the most merits would appear in place of a REAL demon. Hence, the lack of horns." She pointed to her head. "Sooo...", She continued, "you are in the presence of someone who is about to get her Horn of Demonic merit. Making you almost my very first human contract as a demon." "If you say so. I am just making sure I get the whole picture of this negotiation." I gave her a wry smile. This was even better. Way better than my initial plan. This was the moment I knew I didn't fail. I can now have my own demon slave for 6 years. Interns are still naive and this particular intern was too confident for her own good. I started to prepare all the ingredients she asked.

"I said fine powder. If you can't tell the difference between coarse and fine, no wonder you need to make a deal to sell your books." I gritted my teeth as I ground the goldfish scales some more. The intern, did not have faith in my potion making ability and it took it upon herself to watch over my shoulder. I ignored her as best as I could. I just reminded myself of the 6 years I would potentially have a low level demon in my pocket. Together, we finished the potion and under the light of the full moon, I soaked the pens in it as the intern chanted in an unfamiliar language. There's a bright burst of light and a shockwave that knocked me off my feet. When the light faded, the pens floated to me looking completely unblemished. "One of these pens is for you. Use it to write your stories by hand and they'll be a guaranteed hit." "By hand?" "Only the first draft, the copies can be printed if you're feeling lazy. But do not lose that first draft or let it be destroyed." I grabbed the first pen, anticipating the hand cramps to come. "And the second one?" "That is for the people you give me. They sign their contracts with this pen and their soul is mine."

1 week has passed and I had just submitted my manuscript earlier this morning. Each day for 5 days, I would led one person to see the intern and I arranged for them to discuss their desires & sign their contracts on the day I submitted my manuscript. The intern agreed to this arrangement given since they will make the transactions all at once. "It's one way to start your writing career with a bang, I guess", she chirped as she watched me rewriting my manuscript away from her. Few hours later, all the 5 people stood infront of each of the pointed corners of the pentagram while the intern stood at the center observing them. They each wrote their names on the dried pig's ear the intern provided. They then pricked their thumbs and put a bloody stamp of their fingerprint on the paper. The guileless intern's stature perked up. "There's no need for a blood pact. I am not yet allowed to do that anyway." "You are now to declare your desire to this lowlife." she whipped her head towards my direction in annoyance which instantly melted into alarm. "What are you doing?!" "By the remaining celestial hierarchy I still hold in this form, I command you to cast a binding spell tying this demon upon earthly planes!" Five glowing halos appeared above the head of the 5 fallen angels I located throughout the city. They then raised the blood-marked parchment and chanted an old Abrahamic prayer. "You tricked me!" "Oh dearie, didn't they warn you?" "You—"

THE END. OR IS IT?

Please stay tuned for the rest of the story relays we will be doing!